Psalm 81, Genesis 29:1-14, 1 Cor. 10:1-4

Water is such a powerful symbol. We are cradled in amniotic fluid in our first months of life. Water makes up 60% of our bodies. We are baptized in water. When we think of water, we usually think of streams and rivers and oceans. Not rocks. But this theme of water flowing from the rock is found in both the Old Testament and the New.  The Psalmist sings of “honey from the rock.” Jacob rolls away the rock over the well in order to water Rachel’s sheep. In 1 Corinthians, Saint Paul reminds members of the early Church that the Israelites “drank from the spiritual rock, and that rock was Christ.”

Perhaps the fact that we do not usually expect water from rocks is the entire point.  God can bring forth life-giving water from the most arid and unexpected of places—but only if we give up our need for control.

God was having the same control issues with the ancient Israelites that He has with us today: “But my people would not listen to me . . . So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.” Our own devices, indeed. How much time do we spend toiling away on our iPhones and Androids and tablets? When work emails and news and audiobooks and social media can reach us anywhere and at any time, it is easy to fall into the lie of productivity—that is, the belief that, in order to be valued, we have to optimize our every minute of every day.

But do we? What would it mean if we started to look to God for our worth instead of trusting only in the power of our own will, our own effort? What would it mean if we let our hands be “set free from the basket” for a few hours? A day? Would we be reminded that the power of the universe pulses inside of us? That the energy that made exo-planets and galaxies also made the blood that flows through our veins?

Perhaps when we are still as rocks, that is when God is able to bring forth the water living in us—the water Christ uses to bathe and bless others.

Kristi Arth, Assistant Professor of Law

College of Law